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Thanks to the sensational away win, Eintracht is in the semi-finals of the Europa League and meets West Ham there.
“One is still going, one is still going in,” echoed through the Camp Nou fifteen minutes before the end. In fact, those chants exceeded even the most optimistic of the 30,000 Eintracht supporters who traveled to Catalonia for the second leg of the quarter-finals.
Barça shockingly passive
And yet a 4th goal for Frankfurt in Barcelona at this point would have been neither undeserved nor surprising. In the biggest game in recent club history, the Hessians presented themselves up to the task right from the start and, thanks to Filip Kostic, took the lead in the 4th minute. The Serb converted a penalty effortlessly after Eric Garcia slammed Jesper Lindstrom to the ground.
It was the ideal start to a memorable evening for Frankfurt. In the 32nd minute, Rafael Borré underscored that the supposed underdog managed everything for once: the Colombian enjoyed a surprising amount of freedom a few meters from the edge of the penalty area and shot without hesitation – Marc-André ter Stegen was only left behind. However, anyone who expected an angry response from “Blaugrana” was wrong.
Hosts wake up too late
The Hessians were also in control of the game and crowned their performance after 67 minutes with Kostic. The midfielder took advantage of another passive defensive behavior by the Catalans and hit exactly into the left corner.
Barcelona was able to reduce the deficit to 1: 3 in added time through Sergio Busquets (91st), but woke up too late. Even a penalty in the ninth and final minute of added time was no longer enough for the Spaniards. After Memphis Depay’s goal to make it 2-3, referee Soares Dias stopped the game.
For Frankfurt it is the 2nd semi-final qualification in the Europa League within 3 years. In the fight for the final ticket, the Bundesliga club travels to London again: Instead of Chelsea as in 2019, the opponent there is called West Ham.